Southern Lebanon: Recruitment Ground for Hezbollah Fighters

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Alma al-Shaab near the border on May 22, 2024. (AFP)

Southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, has long been where the Iran-backed Shiite party recruits new members.

Since the eruption of the war on Gaza in October and Hezbollah joining the fight against Israel, the party has lost 308 members: 50 from the eastern Bekaa region and rest from the South.

The figure reflects the extent to which the residents of the South are involved in this war and have been involved in all wars waged by Hezbollah against Israel from the South.

Israel occupied southern Lebanon for years until 2000 so the residents of the area are more involved in the conflict than other people, especially Shiites who live in other regions but who are also supporters of Hezbollah and its ally the Shiite Amal movement.

The movement has lost 18 members in the war so far.

A study by Information International showed that since the eruption of the conflict in the South and until May 22, the 305 Hezbollah members killed in the fighting hail from 142 cities and villages. The majority, 12, hail from Kfarkila, nine from each of Aita al-Shaab and Markaba, and eight from each of Aitaroun, Blida and al-Tayba. All of these areas are in the South.

Fifty-two percent of the dead are aged between 20 and 35.

Political analyst and Hezbollah critic Ali al-Amine, who also hails from the South, said the majority of Hezbollah fighters who have been killed in the fighting are from the region.

This is primarily because the majority of Shiites in Lebanon are from the South where Hezbollah has heavy military, security and social presence, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Moreover, the nature of the war does not demand the participation of a large number of fighters. The party is launching rockets, while Israel is retaliating with targeted assassinations and strikes.

So, Hezbollah had no need to call up fighters or recruit new ones, in contrast to the war in Syria where it deployed its members more heavily on the ground, added al-Amine.

On how much the residents of the South will be able to withstand the human and material losses of the war, he explained that Hezbollah is the ruling security, political and economic authority in the South. The locals have no other side, except for the party, to turn to that can compensate them for these losses.

He revealed that relatives of any victim, whether killed or injured, will receive direct compensation of $25,000, a permanent salary, health insurance and other benefits from the party.

No one is objecting to this because the relatives would not only have lost their loved ones, but also stand to lose the financial assistance from Hezbollah, he went on to say.

Furthermore, al-Amine noted that beyond the relatives of the victims, “Lebanese society is not really concerned with Hezbollah’s fight. The Shiite general public also doesn’t believe that this war represents them.”

“They see it as limited to the job Hezbollah has always told them it is carrying out and that is preventing a war and protecting towns from Israeli aggression. However, the opposite is actually happening. Villages have been destroyed and nothing has been protected. Hezbollah became embroiled in a war without taking into account the opinions of the people and their interests,” he stressed.